This former Borderite did something no Cowboy had ever accomplished before

Former Blaine standout Ryan Wallen finished lower in the Mountain West Championships than any other University of Wyoming golfer ever has, as he tied for third Sunday at the Omni Tucson (Arizona) National – Catalina Course.

Wallen, a senior, finished 7-under in the three-day tournament after shooting rounds of 67, 70 and 72. His total of 209 finished behind Boise State’s Brian Humprheys (204) and Donny Hopoi (206) and tied New Mexico’s Andre Garcia and San Diego State’s Gunn Yang. The Cowboys’ Don Abbott finished third in the conference championships in 1992, but that was when Wyoming was a member of the Western Athletic Conference.

Unfortunately, Wallen’s strong showing didn’t help the Cowboys, as third-round struggles relegated the team to an eighth-place finish behind champion UNLV.

“First of all, I’m happy for Ryan (Wallen). He played a great tournament,” Wyoming coach Joe Jensen said in a press release. “We tried hard today, but we struggled in the last few holes. There’s no doubt we would have liked to finish better, but it just wasn’t our day.”

Wallen will wait until Monday to find out of if receives a bid to the NCAA Regionals.

This story was originally published April 25, 2017 at 11:24 AM with the headline "This former Borderite did something no Cowboy had ever accomplished before."